Forza Motorsport’s younger cousin adds off-road racing and improved multiplayer, but does it make the most of its open world setting?

Long before they entered the games industry Microsoft was always accused of being an iterator rather than an innovator. Although it’s not fair to generalise there are certainly many high profile examples where their answer to a rival product is to copy it, but just make it that little bit better. That’s certainly what they did with Forza Motorsport, and most impartial observers would probably now agree that it’s raced ahead of Sony’s Gran Turismo.

Forza Horizon though has no direct competitor (although the PlayStation 4’s Driveclub seems to be aiming for a similar niche). And while it’s still not quite perfected its own formula, for many people it’s going to be more exciting than either of the more serious sims.

Although the original Forza Horizon was technically the first release from British developer Playground Games, they’re not exactly new to gaming. The studio is made up of many veterans of Codemasters and Project Gotham Racing maker Bizarre Creations, so it’s no surprise they managed to straddle the difficult middle ground between simulation and arcade racer with such panache.

Forza Motorsport creators Turn 10 have leant a hand, and more importantly their technology, to both the original and this sequel but there’s a purposefully different tone to the two franchises. Apart from the slightly relaxed handling model the obvious gameplay difference is that Horizon is open world. But it also emphasises social features a lot more, and uses the context of a faux Burning Man style festival to provide some vague motivation for your driving.

Despite the change in scenery the set-up for the game is largely the same as last time. Although the setting has changed from Colorado to one in Europe: an only vaguely realistic section of south-east France and north-west Italy. The festival theme is still a part of the game, but thanks to the switch in continents it’s less xtreme than before and the storytelling thankfully a lot more subdued.

The structure of the game is also a lot more laid back, and instead of just working your way through pre-set championships you now move between six different hub areas and choose what kind of race you want to compete in when you get there. Horizon 2’s garage is still less well stocked than the Motorsport series, but there remains a huge range of cars organised into very specific categories like Group B rally cars and retro hot hatches.

The races themselves are also organised according to these types, rather than on a strict performance level, and with 28 in total that makes for over 150 separate championships. Although you only need complete a small percentage of these to get to the game’s finale.

Forza Horizon 2 (XO) – the real driving simulator?

As you might already be gathering there aren’t any genre-changing new features in Forza Horizon 2, but all the new tweaks and additions are for the better. Especially the new off-road racing, which thanks to the surprisingly destructible scenery is an absolute riot even when you’re just exploring a hub. Even better are the new cross country races, which are so much fun they could have easily been the focus of the whole game.

Other useful additions include the revamped scoring system, that’s now a lot more similar to Project Gotham Racing’s beloved Kudos system; it rewards you for almost everything you do – from drifting and slipstreaming to performing doughnuts and breaking the track-side scenery. These points are then used to open up a simple skill tree full of (to be honest rather gimmicky) driving perks. Together with earned experience points there’s a lot more emphasis on good old-fashioned point scoring than before, which in turns makes the social features feel like more than just a fashionable gimmick.

Surprisingly the PR stunts from the first game, which were always the best bit, have been ditched. Although the replacement Bucket List challenges are just as good, as you’re tasked with completing James Bond style car stunts or Burnout style races against oncoming traffic.

The most significant change to Forza Horizon 2 though is the multiplayer, which was surprisingly undercooked in the original. The sequel doesn’t really do anything new with the concept but simply by taking better advantage of the open world areas it feels a lot more alive and purposeful. You can now play every course in the game with other players, and the new Road Trip mode strings together four separate events to create a perfect online structure that is just the right length for a meaningful, but not too time-consuming, competition with friends.

But despite all this good work there’s still a problem with a lack of variety. The new setting may be beautiful to look at (and really the graphics are amazing, despite the open world necessitating a drop to 30 frames per second and a surprising amount of texture pop-in) but there’s less variation in scenery than the first game. And although the more open structure makes the game more accessible it also lessens the sense of progression.

There’s also a lack of any real variety in terms of the race types, with tracks that can be surprisingly bland given Playground’s pedigree. And while the Drivatar artificial intelligence system, which uses simulated versions of real players as your opponents, continues to be improved we still have qualms with the basic concept. In particular the inability for the game to properly ramp up the challenge seems like a real problem, since all the drivers are based on your friends – whose skills don’t tend to change much over time.

There’s room from improvement then, but the fact that the game has you looking forwards to Forza Horizon 3, rather than dismissing the current sequel for its failings, is proof that the good far outweighs the bad. In fact an argument could be made that the Horizon series is already the most exciting racing franchise in modern gaming.

In Short: There are still a few rough edges to be driven over, but as mild as the improvements are this still makes Forza Horizon 2 one of the best racers of recent years.

Pros: Fantastic scenery and Forza’s customary attention to detail. The open world areas are great fun, especially off-road. Much improved multiplayer options and skill points system.

Cons: The new setting isn’t as varied as the first and the track design isn’t always that inspired. Too little variety in terms of race types, and Drivatar still needs some tweaking.